# Bad Man explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Langston Hughes.

## What happens

The speaker boasts of his violent and immoral behavior, claiming that everyone calls him a bad man. He admits to beating his wife and mistress, using meanness and liquor to cope with his blues, and defiantly rejects any desire to be good, choosing instead to go to the devil.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The speaker's violent behavior toward his wife and mistress is tied to his emotional pain and inability to cope with his blues.

### Resilience and Joy

Despite the bleakness, the speaker's defiant tone and refusal to conform suggest a twisted form of resilience.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who confesses to being a 'bad man' and describes his violent actions.

### Bad Man

The persona who boasts of his meanness, drinking, and abuse, rejecting goodness.

## Key lines

> I’m a bad, bad man Cause everbody tells me so.

I am a wicked person because everyone says so.

_The speaker accepts his reputation as a bad man based on others' judgments._

> I beats ma wife an’ I beats ma side gal too.

I physically abuse both my wife and my mistress.

_The speaker admits to domestic violence as a way to alleviate his sadness._

> I’m goin’ to de devil an’ I wouldn’t go to heaben if I could.

I am heading to hell and would refuse heaven even if it were possible.

_The speaker defiantly embraces damnation over redemption._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/bad-man
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters